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Bananas are native to tropical and subtropical areas. These crops require high humidity and temperature within 25−36°C. When the temperature is below 16°C, plant growth is significantly slowed down, and at 10°C it stops. Bananas prefer acidic soil rich in nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. Bananas largely reproduce by vegetative means, less often by seeds. Usually, bananas are planted before or early into rainy season – this way, seedlings receive the necessary amount of moisture. When banana is ready to bloom, a long peduncle develops at the growing point of a short stalk; the former then passes through the false stem (pseudostem) and emerges after the leaves. Flowering occurs 8 to 10 months after the active phase of plant growth. Banana inflorescence resembles an elongated bud, usually purple or green, with large female flowers that are located at the base, followed by smaller female and male flowers, and then, small male flowers. Pollination occurs with the help of bats, birds, and small mammals. Several hundred fruits usually develop from one inflorescence. The yield reaches 40 tons per hectare annually. Usually, a fruit takes from 10 to 12 months from planting to a full ripening (from 17 to 19 months for some varieties). The fruits are cut green when they are 75% ripe. This way, they are easier to transport and may be stored longer. One plant is typically cultivated for 5 to 6 years; then, its yield noticeably decreases. In Russia, bananas grow in the vicinity of Sochi, but the fruits there do not ripen to the point of being useable for food, since the temperature in winter is below zero and the ripening period is very long. Therefore, the effect of Albit on bananas was studied in the countries located further South: Türkiye and Costa Rica. Now, Albit is successfully used on bananas in these countries. Experiments have established that Albit accelerates growth and development of banana leaves, and also increases their quantity, increases the number of new shoots. It increases the resistance of plants to adverse environmental conditions, to disease damage (Panama disease, black Sigatoka), deters and slows down the disease development, accelerates ripening of fruits, increases productivity. Using Albit in a tank mixture with fungicides was proven effective, too. It is also possible to partially replace chemical fungicides with Albit in order to reduce the pesticide load and obtain environmentally friendly produce. Application recommendations. To reach the best effect, it is recommended soaking banana cuttings in an Albit solution before planting (soak in 2.5 ml/10 liters of water for 2 hours), then water the soil with a solution of the same concentration when planting the seedlings. It is also recommended spraying of growing plants in the first half of the growing season from 3 to 10 times (200-250 ml Albit/ha, working solution rate 1000 l/ha). The interval between sprayings is from 1 week to 1 month. Albit has been used on bananas since 2016. For example, Alata azman variety, grown in greenhouses in Türkiye, was treated with Albit. Banana cuttings were soaked in Albit solution at a concentration of 2.5 ml/10 liters of water before planting. An identical solution was used to water the cuttings when they were planted. In the first half of the growing season, plants were sprayed 4 times with a 1 month interval (250 ml of Albit per hectare, the rate of working solution was 1000 l/ha). As a result of using Albit, new leaves grew faster and their number was in 2 times more: 2-3 shoots in control group, 5-6 − in variant with Albit. The plants treated with Albit were thicker (Fig. 1) and taller than the control ones; fruit were ready for harvesting 15 days earlier vs. control. The yield of plants in Albit-treated group was 9.45 t/ha, and in the control – 8.4 t/ha (a 12.5% increase). It is important to note that in all previous years, Panama disease (caused by pathogen Fusarium oxysporum) was observed in greenhouses. In the season when Albit was used, the disease was completely absent.
Fig. 1. Albit stimulates more shoots in banana crops, the plants are thicker than in control group (greenhouses in Anamur, Mersin region, Türkiye, 2016)
The effectiveness of Albit against black Sigatoka of banana was studied on open ground in Costa Rica (farm San Rafael, La Rita, Pococí, 2021) on Grande naine banana variety. The causative agent of this disease is Pseudocercospora fijiensis fungus, which infects plant leaves, causing cell death, which leads to disruption of photosynthesis and, consequently, to a decrease in yield and its quality.
Every two weeks, plants were treated with fertilizers (N15P3K31 into soil). Plants were also treated with a herbicide (a.i. ammonium glufosinate). Weed control was carried out mechanically on the 1st, 6th and 12th weeks of the experiment. In addition to fertilizing the soil, three foliar applications using ammonium sulfate were conducted. Spraying took place at the 4th, 8th and 12th week. The following parameters were taken during the experiment: the youngest infected leaf (youngest leaf infected, YLI); the youngest infected leaf with spots (youngest leaf with spots, YLS); disease development index (Severity Index, SI). YLI and YLS indicate the number of the banana leaf on which the first signs of the disease appeared. This experiment showed that group 2 (fungicide) and 3 (Albit) had the same effectiveness against black Sigatoka: the youngest infected leaf (YLI) in both groups appeared on the 15th week of the experiment, in contrast to control, where it appeared a week earlier (at week 14) (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2. Effectiveness of different treatments against black Sigatoka of bananas (the youngest infected banana leaf was observed) (Costa Rica, 2021)
In groups 2 and 3, the youngest infected leaf with spots (YLS) appeared on the 17th week of the experiment, while in control it appeared a week earlier (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3. Effectiveness of different treatments against black Sigatoka of bananas (the youngest infected banana leaf with spots was observed) (Costa Rica, 2021)
The disease development index (SI) in Albit group was approximately in the middle between control and chemical fungicide groups (Fig. 4).
Fig. 4. Disease development index in different groups (Costa Rica, 2021)
Disease development in the group with fungicide treatment decreased by 9.9 on average across the experiment; in Albit group, it decreased by 2.6. Thus, the results proved that Albit is effective against black Sigatoka of bananas as an immunizing fungicide. In the same year, the effectiveness of Albit against black Sigatoka of bananas was studied in Costa Rica (farm San Rafael, La Rita, Pococí) on Grande naine variety. The following groups were included into the experiment:
Mineral oil was used as an adjuvant. A total of 13 sprayings were done in each experimental group: the first on November 12th 2021 (in the 45th week of 2021), the last on January 27th 2022 (in the 4th week of 2022). Fertilizers (N15P3K31) were applied to soil once every two weeks. The plants were also treated with an herbicide (a.i. ammonium glufosinate). Weed control was carried out mechanically during the 1st, 6th and 12th weeks of the experiment. In addition to fertilizing the soil, there were three foliar applications using ammonium sulfate. Spraying was done on the 4th, 8th and 12th week. The following parameters were taken during the experiment: the youngest infected leaf (the youngest leaf infected, YLI); the youngest infected leaf with spots (youngest leaf with spots, YLS); disease development index (Severity Index, SI). Results of this experiment showed that in group 2 with fungicide and group 3 with a reduced rate of fungicide and Albit the youngest infected leaf (YLI) appeared only in the 51st week of 2021 experiment, different to other groups, where the youngest infected leaf appeared a week earlier (week 50 of 2021 experiment) (Fig. 5).
Fig. 5. Effectiveness of different treatments against black Sigatoka of bananas (the youngest infected banana leaf was observed) (Costa Rica, 2021-2022)
In groups 2 and 3, the youngest infected leaf with spots (YLS) appeared only on the 1st week in 2022, in contrast to the other groups, where it appeared 2 to 3 weeks earlier, in 2021 (Fig. 6).
Fig. 6. Effectiveness of different treatments against black Sigatoka of bananas (the youngest infected banana leaf with spots was observed) (Costa Rica, 2021-2022)
Thus, the effectiveness of the reduced (by 20%) number of fungicide treatments and Albit was the same as in the group with a full set of fungicide treatments. These treatment methods made it possible to restrain the disease development for 2-3 weeks. Disease development index (SI) showed a full protective effect across all Albit groups (identical to the protective effect of the full rate of fungicide) (Figs. 7, 8). In group 2 with the full set of fungicide treatments, as well as in group 3 with fungicide treatments reduced by 20% and Albit, disease development decreased by 7.4 times, on average, throughout the entire experiment. In groups 4 and 5, where fungicide was used together with Albit, disease development decreased by 5.0-5.5 times.
Fig. 7. Disease development index in different groups (Costa Rica, 2021-2022)
Fig. 8. Average values of disease development index in different variants of experiment (Costa Rica, 2021-2022)
Thus, in this experiment, Albit proved to be an immunizing fungicide. As such, Albit complements and enhances the activity of a fungicide, makes it possible to reduce the cost of treatments while maintaining a protective effect, reduce pesticide load on banana plants, and obtain environmentally friendly produce. In 2022-2023, the study of the effectiveness of Albit against black Sigatoka of bananas continued in Costa Rica (farm San Rafael, La Rita, Pococí) on Grande naine variety. The following groups were included into the experiment:
Mineral oil was used as an adjuvant. Each group had 20 sprayings: the first in the 44th week of 2022, the last in the 11th week of 2023. The fungicide sprayed with a 6-day interval. Fertilizers (N15P3K31) were applied to soil once every two weeks. The plants were also treated with an herbicide (active ingredient ammonium glufosinate). Weed control was carried out mechanically during the 1st, 6th and 12th weeks of the experiment. In addition to fertilizing the soil, there were three foliar applications using ammonium sulfate. Spraying was done on the 4th, 8th, and 12th week. The following parameters were taken during the experiment: the youngest infected leaf (the youngest leaf infected, YLI); the youngest infected leaf with spots (the youngest leaf with spots, YLS); disease development index (Severity Index, SI). Results of this experiment showed that in group 5 (60% from the full fungicide treatment + Albit), the youngest infected leaf (YLI) appeared only in week 52, whereas in other groups it appeared a week earlier (Fig. 9).
Fig. 9. Effectiveness of various treatments against black Sigatoka of bananas (the youngest infected banana leaf was observed) (Costa Rica, 2022-2023)
The youngest infected leaf with spots (YLS) appeared at the 52nd week of the experiment both in the group with a full fungicide protection scheme and in 2 groups where fungicide was partially replaced with Albit (Fig. 10).
Fig. 10. Effectiveness of various treatments against black Sigatoka of bananas (the youngest infected banana leaf with spots was observed) (Costa Rica, 2022-2023)
Disease development index (SI) indicated that Albit had a protective effect in both groups where it was applied (250 ml/ha and 200 ml/ha). On average, disease development in these groups decreased by 6.2 and 6.4 times, respectively, throughout the entire experiment as compared to control. It is important to note that SI in these groups was only 1.14 and 1.09 times lower than in the group with a full fungicide protection scheme. No protective effect of Albit against phytopathogenic nematodes Radopholus similis was observed in the experiment. In conducted trials Albit proved its high efficacy on bananas. As a result, in Costa Rica Albit is included in the national protection program against black Sigatoka disease of bananas. Overall, based on the results of the experiments, the effectiveness of Albit against banana diseases was proven: Albit works as an immunizer, complementing and enhancing the effect of fungicide. Albit makes it possible to reduce the cost of treatments while maintaining full protective effect, as well as to reduce pesticide load on banana plants and obtain environmentally friendly produce. The results of field experiments that studied the effectiveness of Albit on bananas can be found in the table below.
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Bananas are one of the oldest crops worldwide. For the countries in tropical regions, banana is the most important food crop and the main export item. Bananas contain many nutrients, such as beta-carotene, pectin, vitamin B1, B2, B6, C, PP; as well as potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, fluorine, phosphorus, sodium, fructose, and fiber.
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